How to Act Like the President of the United States

What does it take to be President of the United States? A less fraught question, a couple of weeks before the 2016 election is, perhaps: What does it take to pretend to be the President? Earlier this month, at The New Yorker Festival, Alfre Woodard, Bill Pullman, and Tony Goldwyn—all actors who have played the role of Commander-in-Chief — joined Michael Schulman to discuss.

Each actor acknowledged that occupying a fictitious Oval Office comes with some advantages. Goldwyn, who plays the philandering President Fitzgerald Grant on “Scandal,” said, “Even though I’m playing the President, people treat me differently. All of a sudden, there’s a certain gravitas by definition.”

Pullman, who played the President responsible for rallying humanity against alien attackers in the “Independence Day” franchise, recounted meeting President Obama. Pullman recalled panicking when he realized he’d neglected to put on a tie for the occasion.